The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

Monday, Apr. 13, 2026--San Antonio

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio was named a best book of 2024 by many sites.  I found it very enjoyable to read for the most part with some humorous moments throughout, but it became a bit tedius during the last third of the book.  It's the story of a woman who has delayed marriage and is unsure whether she ever wants to be married.   But one day she returns home and discovers a husband in her home.  Her friends know him, her phone has photos of their marriage, and the phone has texts between them.  Some erratic things seem to be happening in her attic--lights buzzing and brightening, so she sent her husband up to check on it.  He didn't come back.  Instead another husband came down.  In time, she figured out that if she didn't like a new husband, she could create a reset by sending the husband back into the attic.  But not a reset to the old situation; instead, a another new husband would come down.  She spends a year sending husbands back and getting new ones.  Occasionally she gets one she wants to try to see if she wants to keep him, but eventually she changes her mind or a husband she likes goes into the attic on his own for sme reason and is then gone forever.  (Except, as she is often exchanges husbands many times a day before she gets one she wants to allow to stay, she also discovers that occasionally one recycles back.)  Only a few of the husbands are allowed to stay more than 1 night.  Within a week or too, she usually has decided that he must go for one reason or another.  She learns that no one will believe her if she tries to tell them what is happening until one of the husbands becomes frustrated with her and starts climbing back up into the attic without any directions from her.  Confused about how he seems to know that it is the way to escape her, she stops him and he reveals that he is a "traveling" husband who has learned that he can leave any relationship by reentering the place he has arrived.  They realize that it is nice to communicate with someone who understands each other's situation, and they make a plan to try to stay in contact after his departure due to the fact that they have permanent email addresses that don't change and that her phone number never changes although his does.  He can call her from his new "unknown" number each time, and if she needs to reach him before he calls, she can write to his email address.  Anyway, his humor is the best part toward the end of the book because the carousel of husbands becomes rather tedius for both the reader and her (along with my frustration with some rather stupid decisions made by the the woman).  It all comes to a satisfying conclusion.  I gave the book 4 stars out of 5 although I think that the last third deserved a half of a star lower rating.

Vigil by George Saunders

Wednesday, Apr. 8, 2026--San Antonio

Vigil by George Saunders is one of several of his books I have read.  All have been interesting.  This is a short one about a Texas oligarch who is in his last dying day.  Born poor and with his ego suffering from being much shorter than most men, he has strived to build his fortune, to become known, respected, and consulted by world leaders, to become someone who never had to tolerate anyone he didn't want to tolerate and who took advantage of everyone he could.  God has sent Jill, the spirit of a young woman who died accidentally (blown up in her husband's vehicle which she had taken for the day instead of him), to comfort the oligarch and guide him to understanding the wrongs he has done and to apologize and receive absolution for them so that he can be elevated when he dies.  (The alternative is to live as a spirit on earth hoping that he can become worthy of being elevated over time--hopefully within centuries.)  The oligarch, however, is proud of his life and unwilling to admit and accept the wrongs he has done even as one spirit after another who is still confined to being an earth spirit comes to try to tell him about those wrongs.  He considers himself to be so important that his young woman spirit (communicating with him via their minds as he rests in a coma) is unworthy to even be near him and, like the other visiting spirits who he badmouths and curses, he does the same to her.  She has eased so many other (about 350) into elevation.  But this man is not going to be easy if at all possible to reach that point.  Those are the details, but the book is really about corporate greed, problems that develop because of capitalism, and environmental degragation that results from both of those.  I gave the book 4 stars out of 5.

You've Found Oliver by Dustin Thao

Sunday, Apr. 5, 2026--San Antonio

You've Found Oliver by Dustin Thao is a novel by a writer who will be attending the San Antonio Book Festival this month.  It's a follow-up book to one about Oliver's best friend entitled You've Reached Sam which I have not read.  In this book, Oliver and Julie (Sam's girl friend) have become close friends in their efforts to deal with Sam's death.  Unknown to Julie, however, is that Oliver has been "talking" one-way to Sam by texting his phone number regulary.  A year has passed, and while thinking of stopping and erasing the texts as an effort to move on with his life, Oliver accidentally dials the number.  A man answers.  It's not Sam, but it is another male college freshman named Ben who now has been assigned Sam's old number.  Oliver is a bit embarrassed about the texts he has sent, but Ben downplays that concern and explains that he didn't block the number because it seemed as if Oliver needed to send the texts as a way of dealing with the loss of his best friend.  From there, it becomes the story of Oliver and Ben who happen to both be gay.  Oliver goes to Central Washington University and Ben goes to the University of Washington.  They decide to meet and seem to like each other.  But strange things keep happening at the beginning of each meeting.  Then they realize that at each meeting it is always late fall in Ben's life, but early spring in Oliver's.  What is going on?  How could this be happening?  And why, when they meet in Seattle or in Ellenburg, it is always on Ben's time line?  It becomes an interesting story of trying to figure everything out as the two find themselves falling in love and noticing that unexpected things are changing in the lives of others they know because of their new connection to each other.  It only took parts of two days to read the story.  I gave the book 4 1/2 stars out of 5.

Good and Evil and Other Stories by Samanta Schweblin

Saturday, Apr. 4, 2026--San Antonio

Good and Evil and Other Stories by Samanta Scheblin is a collection of unsettling short stories emphasizing strange events happening in personal lives.   To a certain extent they reminded me of those in the old Twilight Zone TV series.  There's a bit of quirkiness to them a bit of uncertainness about what is really happening or has happened.  Although well written, they probably wouldn't appeal to everyone.  It helps that it is a short book; I think I would have become frustrated and tired of them if there had more more stories.  But this was just the right length to allow me to recognize the quality of the writing and the uniqueness of the stories without becomimg exhausted or frustrated.  I gave the book 4 stars out of 5.

Good People by Patmeena Sabit

Wednesday, Apr. 1, 2026--San Antonio

Good People by Patmeena Sabit is a very well written novel.  It's also a frustrating novel to read because it deals with so many societal problems--envy, pressure to conform, attempts to take advantage, different expectations for males and females, mob histeria, lack of acceptance of non-conforming people within religions and between religions, ignorance and prejudice, etc.  The book is the story of a muslim family that has immigrated from Afghanistan to the Greater DC area.  Immediately, problems show up within the expatriate Afghan community there.  They see the father as lower class and feel they are therefore better than the new family.  They think the father is a fool for not following the route they have all taken by first becoming taxi drivers.  But over time, the father builds an international company and becomes the wealthiest of the Afghans in the area which they consider to be unfair since they are from a higher class.  One believes he is owed better chances in life because he is only 3 generations removed from a high ranking leader in Afghanistan, so he tries to weasel his way into the business as a partner.  Then the eldest daughter rebels against the Afghan restrictions for underage and unmarried girls by beginning a secret relationship with an Indian boy.  Those who have been envious of the family within Afghan community are delighted to watch the downfall of their reputation because of the dishonor the daughter is bringing upon it.  Then when the daughter dies, questions are raised of whether it could have been an honor killing.  Suddenly, the envy and excitement expands beyond the Afghan community to include special interest groups and politicians trying to take advantage by promoting outrage against the family.  Social media posts and newspaper articles go overboard in further firing up the rage against the family.  People drive for hundreds of miles to protest in front of the family's home.  In my opinion, it is a story representing changes in American society that have been slowly building for past 40-50 years--reaching the current state of MAGA opinionated rage.  I gave the book 4 1/2 stars out of 5.

Middle Spoon by Alejandro Varela

Sunday, Mar. 28, 2026--San Antonio

Middle Spoon by Alejandro Varela is a book that was rated highly last year and the author will be here at the San Antonio Book Festival next month.  It was available for immediate checkout on Libby.  I had just finished a book and I had 3 more on hold with one coming within days and the other two within a couple of weeks, so I decided to read this one during the wait time.  I almost quit it during the first few pages, though.  I got the sense of an author trying harder to impress me with his vocabulary than to get me into the story.  I stayed with it because the story started being interesting while the sprinkling of "impressive" words decreased greatly.  The protagonist is a member of a family of 4--the younger of two married gay men and their two children.  The men have been together for about 20 years in a committed, but open relationship.  The book takes place after the younger man has developed a side relationship with a man 8 years younger than he is.  The relationship has lasted for 3 quarters of a year, but has its problems.  The married man has fallen in love with the younger boyfriend, but it is a lopsided relationship in several ways.  Beyond the age difference, there is a maturity difference, an income difference, and a difference in what each one wants.  The married man still loves his husband and his children and wants to stay in that relationship.  His husband has no concerns if that is how it works out.  But that raises many questions which is what the book is really about.  How can a polyamorous relationship work over time?  Can the boyfriend accept being a part of one?  Will the children and the husband accept the boyfriend.  The book actually begins when the boyfriend has ended the relationship as it has currently existed (outside of the family relationship).  The protagonist is suffering from heartache.  He's also ADHD, has been seeing two therapists at the same time over several years, is a Black Latino in a mixed racial marriage/family which is already a problem within society in general, and is worried about how difficult it will be for society to understand an accept a polyamorous family.  He is writing unsent emails to the boyfriend as a way of trying to work through his heartache, of trying to figure out if he will get over it, of analyzing the details of the relationship over time, of trying to figure out how to get the boyfriend back, and of trying to figure out if he can make the polyamorous relationship work out if he can get to the boyfriend to agree to try it.  His mind is so "unique" that the book is often humorous while his ADHD inflexibility is often frustrating.  I don't consider it to be a great book, but it is a good enough book.  I have it 3 1/2 stars out of 5.  

Note:  The authors early book, The Town of Babylon which I have also read, is a better book in my opinion.  

All That Life Can Afford by Emily Everett

Saturday, Mar. 21, 2026--San Antonio

All That Life Can Afford by Emily Everett was on a list of best books of last year.  I isn't a great book, but it is a book that is pleasurable to read.  It is the story of a young lady who grew up in a very poor family but was very intelligent and happened to live in the hometown of Smith College where she was admitted on a full scholarship.  The book follows her to London where she has been admitted, again on scholarship, to a university to work on a master's degree in literature.  Beyond that, it is very much like a romance novel (except for not having any sexual liaison details) as she ends up dating the wrong guy while you keep hoping she will realize that she has made an error.  It also includes details of how she allows herself to become involved in living a high society life which she cannot afford.  The book is full of tense moments caused by poor decisions.  And like most romance novels (other than the withheld details of sex encounters that has already been mentioned), she ends up with the right guy in the end (but the reader knows this is going to happen 10% of the way into the novel, so it isn't really a spoiler to say so).  I gave the book 4 stars out of 5.